


Where I belong

by JadedWarrior



Series: Belonging You Seek [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Rey, Boss/Employee Relationship, Co-workers, Desk Sex, Dirty Talk, Dominant Ben Solo, Dominant Kylo Ren, Emails, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Feels, Happy Ending, Light Dom/sub, Modern Era, Not Cheating, Porn with Feelings, Roleplay, Rough Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:54:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24850390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadedWarrior/pseuds/JadedWarrior
Summary: Rey plays heartbreak piano in a bar when a dark stranger offers her a drink... and solace.***She sauntered toward him, a goddess in white, and slammed all three things on the table. At least she didn’t throw the whiskey in his face.“I don’t take requests.”“Pity.”  He lifted up his glass as if to toast and watched her eyebrow inch up before he put his whiskey back onto the table. Then he met her eyes, direct and cool and held out his hand. “Kylo Ren.”She flicked a glance down at his palm, but didn’t make a move to take it. Didn’t make a move to leave either, which he considered a good sign.****This is an epilogue of sorts to A Place To Belong but can be read as a stand alone.More angst, and of course, a happy ending. And EMAILS!
Relationships: Kylo Ren & Rey, Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Belonging You Seek [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797796
Comments: 11
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another music inspired story. Hope you guys enjoy!

_To: Benjamin Solo_

_From: Leia Organa Solo_

_Subject: FWD: FWD: Your Reseveration at Cloud City Resort and Casino_

_Answer your phone._

_Did you two have a fight?_

_To: Leia Organa Solo_

_From: Kaydell Ko Connix (HR)_

_Subject: FWD: FWD: Your Reseveration at Cloud City Resort and Casino_

_I’m so sorry to bother you, but... Help?_

_To: Kaydell Ko Connix (HR)_

From: Rey Niima (IT)

_Subject: FWD: Your Reseveration at Cloud City Resort and Casino_

_Hi Kaydell,_

_Apologies for bothering you so close to the event, but there seems to be an issue with my reservation. As you can see below, the room is listed with two occupants, one of whom is the CEO. Since the conference organizers request access to panelist and presenter accommodations, I have to admit I’m uncomfortable with the organizers knowing who I’m with, and the rumours that will inevitably spring up._

_I’ve already reached out to the hotel, but it looks like only the originator can change the reseveration._

_I hate to add another item to your to do list, but may I please impose on you to contact the hotel to remove my name from Mr Solo’s reservation and see if it’s still possible to book a room for me? I understand if they already released all the blocks, and if so, I’m happy to find my own accommodations in greater Bespin._

_Rey Niima_

_Chief Tech_

*********

Raw notes of anguish drew him to the bar, still surprisingly full despite the late (or early) hour. Amidst the noise and laughs and clinks of glasses, he watched her handle the keyes like a pro, lost in her own world, her phone bathing her face in blue and silver.

No ring—the first thing he noticed. Full lips, parted and soft, high cheekbones looking pale in the dim light. Delicate features contrasted so by the severe way she swept her dark hair away from her face, a style reminiscent of Samurai, except instead of a sword, she wound him with that raw and anguished sound.

_Another shot of whiskey please bartender_

_Keep it coming till I don’t remember... at all.._

Still in shadows, he signaled the waitress and made his order. Watched the three buns come up with surprise on her face when a short glass of Hirsch Finest was placed in front of her, the liquid gleaming blue.

She didn’t bother drinking. Instead she swayed to the heartbreaking song, the words of which somehow had him by the throat.

_Who am I kidding?_

_I know what I’m missing..._

Since he had nothing to occupy his hands with, he reached into his pocket for a pair of gold dice —appropriate seeing where they were—and settled deeper into an empty booth, the low crimson light a soft gleam on the polished table.

In the shadows, amidst the boasting tech bros desperate for contacts and business cards, he watched her sway to the song, her posture strong, the notes she stroked from the glossy white Baldwin wailing in heartbreak.

From his angle, the blue light off her screen lit up just the edge of her face, the slim column of her throat working as she appeared to be mouthing the words, the stark cut of her pantsuit, white of course, a hard contrast with dark lace over her collarbones.

Diamond studs glinted in her ears.

When the waitress came around to see if he wanted to order for himself, he handed her a note and a hundred dollar bill, along with a quiet request for a second shot.

When both were delivered several minutes later, the music stopped, not that the entrepreneurs and sales execs took notice. He stared at the glass in front of him, pretending not to watch her take the note, the bill, the whiskey, and look around, of course immediately finding him, as if he could hide this giant clumsy frame.

She sauntered toward him, a goddess in white, and slammed all three things on the table. At least she didn’t throw the whiskey in his face.

“I don’t take requests.”

“Pity.” He lifted up his glass as if to toast and watched her eyebrow inch up before he put the whiskey back onto the table. Then he met her eyes, direct and cool, and held out his hand. “Kylo Ren.”

She flicked a glance down at his paw, but didn’t make a move to take it. Didn’t make a move to leave either, which he considered that a good sign.

“I enjoyed your workshop earlier. Ms...-“He let the sentence drag.

“Kira,” she answered and this time, she held out her hand. 

_Well then._

“Pleasure.” He ran his thumb over her knuckles and could’ve sworn he felt her shiver. “Join me. Please.” He nodded at the seat across from him, and held his breath until she sat down, delicate fingers playing over the nearly finished whiskey she set on the table. The note and the bill still lay between them.

“You play beautifully.”

“Thank you.” She took a slow sip and let the liquid roll in the glass as she watched him, her gaze steady, her lips beautiful and sad. “I’m told it’s how I process my emotions.”

“Do you?” Since he had no drink to occupy his hands, he fiddled with the dice. “If it helps, there was a time when rage was the only emotion I could label.”

“Oh?”

He shrugged. “A long time ago.”

She finished her drink in one gulp and he watched her throat work, her breath quicken. “Same.”

“That didn’t sound like rage.” He jerked his chin toward the now solo Baldwin. “More like... anguish.”

It was her turn to shrug. The red light above them cast crimson shadows on her face, painting her lips red, her eyes mysterious, her curves lethal.

“My guess is you’re pining for some asshole. You want my take, he isn’t worth it if he doesn’t see how special you are.”

“I didn’t ask for your ‘take’,” she huffed, but there was no real venom in her voice. More like.. resignation. “And more like it’s the other way around.”

“Ah. I see. He’s unworthy.”

That earned him a snort. He pushed the second glass toward her, and once again that eyebrow came up in a question. “Unworthy huh?”

“Trying to tie you down. Mark you.” He nodded at the indentation on her ring finger of her left hand. “Asking you for things you aren’t ready to give.”

“Something like that.”

He nodded. “Fuck him.”

“Yeah well...” She looked down, fiddled with her glass.

“I can help with that.”

“I bet.”

“I can offer you solace. Or fuck you brainless. Either way... “

She snorted, with no humor in the sound. “You act like it’s that simple.”

His body was already achingly hard at the thought. “Interested?”

“I might be.” She swirled the liquid in the glass. “Don’t you have ... someone?”

“My fiancée and I have an understanding.”

“Oh, I just bet you do.”

He smiled at that. “It could be all about you.”

“Really.”

“Of course... Kira.”

She took another sip and all but slammed her glass down on the table. “So to be clear, you’re offering to make me come right here?”

He had to smother a grin at that. “ I’d rather go somewhere more private.”

She scrambled out of the booth, and for a moment, he thought he lost her. For a moment, he wished for that drink, and let his face show every emotion, forcing himself not to put on the mask. He let her gaze roam over him without challenge.

“Let me guess. You managed to snag yourself a room even though the whole city is booked.”

“Its all about who you know.” His hands tightened on the dice. “If you aren’t comfortable joining me in my hotel room, executive meeting rooms are open.”

“And you happen to know that how?”

He finally allowed himself to smile. “As I said, its all about who you know.”

She palmed the note and picked up the glass, pointedly leaving the bill on the table. “I’ll think about it.”

****

She was picking her way through the emo song he wrote on the note when her phone flashed a text notification from an unknown number.

**Conference Room 21C, exec floor.**

_I should’ve bought you flowers...._

Generally, she didn’t play songs with lyrics, but tonight.. Hell, the last three nights, she needed words, at least in her head, because she sure as hell didn’t know how to say them. But hey, progress, because Dr. Yoda didn’t care if she could identify her emotions as long as she could get them out somehow. Hence, a beautiful white baby grand in an exclusive bar, in front of people of all things, because she was so wrecked, she didn’t give a tit about who listened.

_And held your hand..._

None of this was her fault. She was a damned professional, she was here on business. Okay, maybe she got a little too worked up, but bloody hell, she was entitled. Her first professional conference, where she was invited — fucking invited, her Rey Nobody Niima, with her non-ivy-league degree—to give a workshop and sit on a panel of experts. She didn’t need the lot of them to gossip about who she went to bed with, even if she had a ring on her finger. Which she most resolutely not.

He said she might as well take it off before she went, and so she did. And he was bloody welcome.

_Should have gave you all my hours..._

And it was nobody’s business what — or with whom—she did.

Finishing her whiskey—liquid gold— she gently pulled the lid down over the keys, and looked around to see if anyone would notice.

At the far corner, a man in a gold cape sitting next to someone huge and hairy, lifted his drink in a toast, and she nodded at him before leaving. He looked like he had winked at her, but somehow that didn’t register as creepy. He had his arm slung over the hairy man’s shoulders, the giant appearing to be wiping his eyes.

Then again, everything was blurry now. The whiskey plus three nights of no sleep left their mark, and maybe that combined with just the sheer missing of him, made her reckless.

The elevator took too long and she fiddled with the ring she wore on a chain and hid under her top. 

Might as well get some, she told herself and took a deep breath, studying herself in the elevator mirror. _Kira,_ she told herself. Bold, brave and badass. Not a raw quivering mess ready to bloody cry.

She fiddled with her phone again, taking care of a bit of a tech problem, and when she entered the darkened room, all that bravado evaporated into the thin air.

“Lock the door, please.” 

He stood with back to her, watching Bespin glitter below in a stunning view from the twentieth floor wall to ceiling windows. His black shirt strained around his shoulders, his posture deceptively relaxed, hands in pocket. She could already feel this giant palms on her. “I’m glad you decided to join me.”

Fiddling with the ring before resolutely pushing the chain back under the lace edge of her cami, she walked toward him, standing behind him just enough to see both their reflections. Dark and light, heat and shadow. Nerves and need pebbled over her skin.

“How do you want this?” He might as well have been asking for a latest spec configuration, the way his voice washed over her, velvet but indiffferent, rich and yet heartbreakingly empty.

“I...”She cleared her throat and pushed past the trembling nerves. “Don’t be nice.”

That laugh, the dark rich velvet of it, with just a hint of danger, scattered over her skin. “No one,” he said, as her heartbeat pounded in her ears, “No one’s ever accused me of being nice.”

With measured movements, he finally unclasped his hands to roll up his sleeves over pale muscular forearms. “Say ‘red’ and we’ll stop. You understand?”

She was capable of a small single nod.

Next came the sound of his zipper as he withdrew and palmed his cock. 

“Suck.”

“What?”

“I didn’t stutter.” He should’ve looked comical with his cock straining out from his pants, except nothing was funny, not the cool look on his face, not the thick beautiful dick she ached to take into her hand.

“On your knees, sweet thing,” he murmured, stepping back when she reached out for him. “Having trouble taking direction?”

“Fuck you,” she murmured sinking to the floor, and couldn’t help but shiver at that dark laugh.

“If you’re good,” he said above her and fed her that gorgeous cock.

She took him in, preening at his hissed out breath when her lips touched the velvet head of him, and swirled her tongue over the tip, took him deep once, twice, reveling in the scent, the taste, musk, leather, man.

Hands tangled in her hair freeing the strands, thick fingers, not rough, but definately not gentle, firmly guiding her head to a rhythm he liked.

“That’s, it sweet thing. Take me in.” He tightened the grip on her head, making her arch her neck to look up at him through her lashes. “God, you’re gorgeous. So fucking perfect taking my cock deep. Look at you.” He groaned again, the sound sending more slick down her thighs. “Don’t make me come too soon, sweet thing. Too soon, and I’ll spank that cunt until I’m ready again. Oh you like that? Look at me!,” he tugged her hair rough enough for her to feel pin prick of tears, forcing her to look up at him again as he pulled out of her mouth to tap lightly on her lips. “Fuuuuck. God.” Another tug on her scalp urged her to rise, her legs trembling beneath her, desire and a strange sense of peace slicking over her skin.

“You’re so good, sweet thing. Too good. Now it’s my turn.” She couldn’t do anything but go where he directed, his giant hand fisted in her hair as he walked her backwards, spun her around to shove her against the large conference desk. 

A hard smack on her ass had her yelping, his lips next to her ear pure velvet sin. “Quiet. Don’t want anyone to hear.” The weight of his palm on her back guided her down, her torso and cheek resting on the smooth surface of the table, cool wood against hot fevered skin.

In the darkness, she shuddered. And waited. For once in her life, she didn’t mind the wait. 

“What’s this?”

The ring she’d slipped on a gold chain fell out from where she’d placed it underneath her tank top, glinting on the polished surface of the desk. She froze when he picked it up, unable to turn around to see his expression, really , really needing to see his face when...

With a sharp move, he jerked the chain with both hands, ripping it, sliding the ring out. 

“Give that back, now.” She should’ve turned around, told him to fuck himself, demanded it back, stomped off..

“You sure you want it back?”


	2. Conclusion

“You sure you want it back?”

“Fuck you.”

“That’s the plan.” Large hands flexed over her ass, his knee between her thighs shoving her thighs apart. “But you must keep quiet.“

“Give that back.” Calm voice, deep breaths, no indication that her heart went wild. She nearly safeworded out and only pride had her holding back.

“Hey.” His voice caressed her ear, the weight of his chest brushing over his back. “You’ll have it when we’re done.” Then, after a short pause. “I promise.”

She exhaled, closed her eyes. And nodded. Then shivered when his lips brushed the sensitive spot on the back of her neck, his palm sliding under her, cupping her sex over the fabric of her trousers in a caress she would’ve describe as ‘nice’ if she wan’t afraid to shatter whatever this thing between them.

Instead, she simply lifted up her ass to allow better access for his hand.

“Goddamn, I need you,” he murmured right into her ear, his breath sending shocks of fire dancing in veins. “So fucking beautiful. I watched you on that panel and all I could think was fucking you. Did you know I was there?”

Rey shouldn’t have found that so hot. She wasn’t there to be sexy, she was a damned professional... and fuck it. Beyond words, she nodded, pushing back against him when he ground the heel of his palm right right over her clit. Heat pooled in her core, and she whimpered, pushing herself back against him, needing relief from this fire he stoked.

“Words, sweet thing. Did you see me?”

“I lost my train of thought when you ducked in.” How did she have enough brainpower to string more then two words together with his hand right there?

That dark rich cruel chuckle did things to her she would never admit. “You liked knowing I watched you? Knowing I was so fucking hard for you?” God, that voice, rough, tender, just a touch of mean.

“I want to see you.” She needed to focus on his face, to know what he was feeling. To see beyond the hardness of his mask.

“Too damned bad.” The calmly voiced denial contrasted with impatient fingers shoving her trousers down to her knees, baring her to him and forcing her to fight against unyielding fabric to spread her feet apart.

Once more his weight pressed down on her back, his scent enveloping her in a heated embrace, his long fingers intertwined with hers over the desk, so intimate, so... loving. The thought brought a pin prick of tears to her eyes. 

In contrast, the feel of fabric of his trousers against her bared thighs seemed shockingly impersonal, the feel of his cock against her ass a rough reminder of what this was: a quick and dirty fuck. Exactly what she wanted.

“I watched you,” he whispered, his breath ghosting over the shivering shell over her ear, his hair a silken caress over her neck. “At the panel. At dinner. And you ignored me.”

“I... Yes.”Might as well admit the truth. “It hurt to look at you.”

Her only answer was a press of lips over her neck, a sweet caress that had her keening. But this wasn’t tender. This was just a hot and dirty fuck so both of them cold sleep.

She needed him to suck bruises on her skin, to take her rough and hard and quick so that she wouldn’t think anymore, so that she could lose herself in sensation. “Stop doing that,” she growled even as she shivered as he mouthed that spot under her ears.

That fucker laughed and ground his cock against her ass. “Just this?”

“Fuck. Yes.” She wouldn’t change her mind. She wanted him rough, to simply fuck her just to take the edge off. She woudln’t beg for his mouth, she wouldn’t beg for him to hold her tight, make her feel safe. She didn’t need those things. She didn’t need anyone because Kira was a badass.

She just needed a fuck so she could sleep tonight.

“Say the words.” With one hand on her back, holding her down to the table, he lined his body up against hers and stroked in, just the very tip, sliding against her. She fought against his hold, against the fabric of her pants keeping her from spreading her thighs wider. “Beg sweet thing. Beg for cock.”

“Just... I... God.“ 

He pushed in, shallow and slow, but she didn’t want slow, slow would make her regret, she wanted hard and fast and mindless.

“Please, just fuck me.”

“There it is.” He drove inside her, a hard slide into her clenching cunt, and gods, she was probably ready to come from more thrusts just like that, but he stopped, simply fucking stopped, shuddering above her, his breaths behind her hard and fast. “Okay?”

“Shut up,” she snarled and tried with no avail to push herself onto him, “I told you, don’t be nice.”

_He. Fucking. Growled._

Raw, animalistic, the sound rumbled in his chest and he snapped his hips forward, thrust into her with a hard punishing stroke, stealing her breath, sending bursts of shocked pleasure through her bloodstream.

God, this was exactly what she needed.

“So. Fucking. Tight.” Hard hands on her hips, pulling her into him. “Ass up, sweet thing. Lift that ass in the air. Show me you want this.”

She did just that, and the angle nearly sent her over the edge.

A quick slap on her skin had her groaning. “Shhh sweet thing. Don’t want anyone to hear. Don’t want anyone to know you’re getting fucked.”

She tried to find purchase on the desk, to hold on to something, when huge hands closed over her wrists, drawing her wrists behind her back, effectively handcuffing, the vise like grip on her the leverage he needed to he could fuck her harder.

Exactly how she wanted. Exactly how she liked it, slapping against her skin so hard, so good, she fucking screamed.

“That’s it.” That voice did things to do no other being should’ve been allowed. “That’s it, scream for me. God, you’re so fucking tight.”

She had nowhere to go, nowhere she could move but simply lay there and take it, take the rough pounding from behind, grasp his hands with hers and pull him down on her more, harder, faster, letting his words wash over her even as she tried to stifle herself screaming.

And that fucker slowed down.

“What are you doing?”

She clenched around him, needing more, needing this mindless pleasure so that she woudln’t have to think, wouodln’t have time to miss him.

“Harder,” she breathed and tried to squeeze her thighs, and god, that fucker laughed.

His cock stroked into her in a delicious slide, nudging that spot inside her, spilling shivers of pleasure through her veins. 

No, she didn’t want to do this, not this slow boil of pleasure, not his mouth on her neck.

“Ben, bloody hell—“

“Did you say Ren? How... impersonal.” Her hands still gripped in his, she felt him urge her up, turn a bit so that she faced windows, the dimmed lights making their reflection clear in the glass, her arched back with her arms behind her back, him looming behind her, a dark ominous shadow, his face a shadowed mask.

She lifted on her toes to give him a better angle, trusted him to hold her suspended in that strong grip. And threw her head back and fucking keened when he pushed into her again, hard strokes, so good, so deep, his hands so sure and rough and tight around her wrists.

“Like that?” He slammed her on his cock, a hard rough rhythm that had her breathless. “Like that baby?” The slap of skin against skin sent her nerves on fire again.

“Yes. Yes like that. God, please....” 

With her hands free now, Rey blindly reached for the window glass, the cool surface not enough for her to keep upright. But one of those strong arms wrapped tight around her waist, holding her steady, fingers inching lower.

“Need to feel you, sweet thing. Come on my cock. Please.” She felt the coil winding impossibly, blindingly tight, just as he circled her clit, his strokes demanding, relentless, slamming deep into her with animal speed. 

She shook around him, trembled, so close, winding so close...

“That’s it, sweet thing. Look at us. Look at me fucking you,” and she opened her eyes to see them both, his thick arms wrapped around her, both of them clothed save for the naked look of pleasure on her face, his frame so large and steady behind her, around her, letting her fall apart safely just like he always said he would, being there to cage the pieces so that she could shatter.

She climaxed with a scream, babbling, crying, shuddering around him just as he followed, pounding into her with rough hard thrusts, both hands around her waist now, holding her steady, helpless.

The pleasure... blinding. Satisfying. Anguished. The world returned too soon and Rey hated that slide, not wanting this moment to end, hating that it had to.

“Are you all right?”

She nodded. “I... we both better get some sleep.” Stupid her didn’t have a piano here to let out the emotions, no lyrics for her to process out the words. 

Silent, he pulled out of her, only to return with tissues to clean her up, his movements sure and tender before he pressed a silk square of fabric into her still trembling hand. Before she could ask why, he ran fingertip over her cheek and mouth and Rey felt tears.

Kira hated crying during sex. Rey? She hated to admit she fucking loved it.

He was already gone by the time she pulled herself together and wiped her face, nearly losing the plastic key card he’d left in the handkerchief he left her.

****

Unlike the stint at rehab, Dr Yoda didn’t make him meditate. For that, Ben had been grateful.

The Chi Gong forms allowed him breathe on his own count, the controlled movements an antidote for stress and anger, an active way of calming oneself without sitting motionless while nasty thoughts ravaged your mind.

He’d showered first, washing off her scent. No point in smelling her on his skin, peaches and honey and something so uniquely her, just as another reminder that she wasn’t here.

Three days, he told himself and curved his arms to “hold the sun”, his bare thighs slightly sore from earlier exertion. Three days without her, and two more until the fucking conference was over. Ben soothed himself with controlled motions and counted breaths, even if a part of him, the part he hated, told him it was over, that even after two days she wouldn’t be back, that he had fucked it up, because of course, he did, he was Ben Fucking Solo, and god forbid he keep his fucking mouth shut.

No, he just had to count. No more negatives thoughts, those could wait. For now, needed to move and breathe, and maybe trust the galaxy that it would all work out.

He was on the third rendition of the form, drawing a bow, feet planted wide, his lungs forcing out air, when the locks clicked and the door pushed inward.

Since he was busy, Ben pretended not to notice.

Breathe on the draw. Exhale on the release. Turn to repeat—he could see her even though he was supposed to keep “soft focus”, noting everything and not singling out a single thing. But he knew she watched him, her features completely obscured by shadows, her hair slicked back and down over a dark shirt that dwarfed her frame. His of course.

Another breath. Another count to eight.

And he ignored her, just as she had ignored him, and wasn’t that stupid and petty? Except he needed to get control over himself, arm himself, so Ben finished the form, working methodically, even if his heartbeat quickened.

She watched him, motionless and silent. And when he finished, he brought his palm and fist together and he bowed to her, supplicant to Goddess.

“You’re so beautiful.” A whisper in the dark. “I.. didn’t know you knew how to do that.”

There was that accent. Since he had no answer, Ben just shrugged. Whatever she came here to say, however she wanted to wound him, he hoped it would be fast.

“I...” She signed, and crossed her arms over her chest. “I fucked Kylo Ren.”

He took a beat before he answered, using the water as an excuse to make her wait. “I heard he’s an asshole.”

“I handled him.” Such bravado. “But...”

She sniffed, so light and quiet and quick, but Ben heard it, of course he heard it and wondered if he fucked up even more, if he hurt her, and he’d never fucking forgive himself, he’d fucking beat himself into a pulp if he did-

“He didn’t hold me after. That... bloody hell,” she sighed, exasperated. “That hurt.”

He wasn’t sure which one of them moved first, but she was in his arms, surrounding him, or maybe he was surrounding her, but either way, they held each other, and he sank on the floor with her wrapped around him, her face in the crook of his neck, and fuck him, Ben wasn’t sure which one of them was crying.

“Rey.”

She mumbled something in his neck.

“Rey?”

She nuzzled intro his chest, her scent once more enveloping him like peaches and honey scented cloud. He coudln’t help himself from taking a long inhale at her pulse and pressing a kiss there, soft, sweet, exactly she liked it while damp hair tickled the side of his face.

“The fucker didn’t give my ring back.”

“That fucker.” And he snorted, for the first time in three days actually able to laugh.

She hugged him tighter. “Where is it?”

He brought his hand up, so the light could glint off the engagement ring he managed to push past the first knuckle of his pinky.

Instead of punching him as he deserved, Rey simply snuggled on his lap and bowed her head into his chest. “Can I please have it back.”

Wordless he took her hand, sliding the ring on her fourth finger. The weight around his chest finally loosened as he pressed a kiss onto the pulse point of her wrist.

“I can’t believe you still have that hanky. What kind of wanker keeps a handkerchief?”

“You, now,” he muttered, and crushed her to his chest. “Consider it yours. Are you all right?”

“I... I hate this.” She didn’t get up, but she did push back a bit to look at him, her profile clear and delicate and fierce in the darkness. “I’m sorry I freaked. I just.. I need to be taken for who I am, not who I’m with.”

Well fuck. “Believe me, I get that.”

“For the first time ever, I’m somebody. My work is recognized in the industry, people know my name. I just... I wanted“ She waved her hand, the one he wasn’t still holding on to, as if at a lost for words.

“You wanted to be recognized by your own merit and not association.”

She pushed her head into his chest again. “Yeah. Yeah exactly. You can understand?”

“Look at my family and ask about Kylo Ren.”

A moment. “Oh.”Then. “Why did you go back?” 

“It was a mask. It couldn’t hide from things I’ve done, and then it didn’t matter. After rehab, my dad... I figured I couldn’t outrun the past. And then, I didn’t want to.”

“Ben Solo sounds sexy,” she muttered against his shoulder, and softly kissed his collarbone. “I’m sorry I threw a fit.”

“When you meet Lando, I’m sure he’ll tell you plenty of times I threw a few in this casino.”

“Lando Calrisian? You know the owner?”

“He’s sort of.. a family friend.”

“Of course he is, “she muttered against his chest. Then, “I’m sorry about what I said. And about the egg roll.”

“Good thing you have bad aim.” Then, “I’m sorry as well.”

“Okay.” Deep breath. “And I have excellent aim.” She laid her head on his shoulder now, arms and legs around him, a warm blanked of Rey. Her breaths deepened, and Ben could tell by the way her body was relaxing with each passing second, she was ready for sleep. Hell, he was ready himself, the scent of her, the post orgasmic haze, the unraveling after three horrid days of bullshit, finally letting themselves be known.

“Ben?”

He hoisted them both up, somehow managing to get upright enough to get them both onto the bed and under blankets. “Yeah, Sweetheart.”

“Can I stay with you? I.. haven’t been able to sleep.”

He kissed the top of her head. “You’ll sneak out in the morning?”

She pushed her nose into his neck .“Is that okay?”

“Yeah. If you promise to sneak back.”

*****

To: Benjamin Solo

From: Leia Organa Solo

Subject: FWD: Lounge Act

Do you two make up?

Answer your damned phone!

Lando wants to poach her, just FYI.

*************

To: Leia Organa Solo

From: Lando Calrissian 

Subject: Lounge Act

That girl a hacker? All the cameras shut down the exec floor, and no offense to Skywalkers or Solos, but none of you are the techy types. Not that it kept that scoundrel from tearing down both cameras in one of the exec rooms. I don’t even want to know.

Any idea how much she likes Resistance? I could use a new lounge act, and she near broke Chewie’s heart playing that piano.

Stop harassing my assistants—nobody’s seen them since last night.

*********

To: Rey Niima

From: Lando Calrisian 

Subject: Consultation Request

Dear MS Niima,

I was impressed to find all security footage from the executive floor wiped for several hours the previous night. Since I’ve paid a small fortune to prevent this type of situation, I’d love an overview of how this was achieved, as a show of good faith due to the resort not asking for an official explanation.

I don’t know the nature of your contract with your employer, but may I offer for you and your team to stay an extra day after the conference to consult on bolstering our systems.

On a personal front, if may say so, you’re too good for that kid, but it’s great to see he’s a chip off the old block.

Best Regards,

Lando Calrisian

Administrator, Cloud City Resort and Casino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed! Please let me know what you think!  
> If you haven’t already done so, please check out the first work in the series, A Place to Belong.

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t you hate cliff hangers? Any guesses as to which songs inspired this? (I had this in my head for over a week!)


End file.
